The listing of BlackRock’s proposed bitcoin ETF on the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation website appeared to fuel more optimism that approval of such funds is imminent.

But the inclusion of ETFs that have not yet gained regulatory approval is nothing out of the ordinary, according to DTCC, which processes trillions of dollars in securities transactions daily. 

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts, and others, pointed out in X posts Monday the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBTC) — first proposed to the Securities and Exchange Commission in June — was on the DTCC list. This spurred speculation from some that the planned fund’s launch was imminent.

But it is “standard practice”…

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On Oct. 8, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposed new marketing rules compelling cryptocurrency firms to promote their products and services clearly, fairly and transparently.

From banning referral bonuses to crypto firms implementing a 24-hour cooling-off period for first-time crypto investors, the stricter Financial Promotions (FinProm) regime aims to help protect consumers from high risks associated with virtual assets.

The cooling-off rule, in particular, presents an opportunity for users to discern crypto investments and strengthens the credibility of crypto and its community, James Young, compliance head and money laundering reporting officer at on-ramp…

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With optimism around eventual spot bitcoin ETF approval ramping up, the exact impact such a product will have is hard to pinpoint. 

But the impact gold ETFs had on the products’ underlying asset could foreshadow the effect of yet-to-be-seen bitcoin fund launches, some industry executives say.

Bitcoin ETFs could see $14.4 billion of inflows in their first year of trading, according to a Tuesday report by Galaxy Digital research associate Charles Yu. The price of bitcoin could increase by 74% in the 12 months following approval, he added. 

Yu’s flow estimate comes from an assumption that BTC is adopted by 10% of total assets across three wealth management channels, with an average…

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Recent market moves have placed two major blue-chip digital assets trending back above their long-term moving averages, often cited by technical analysts as a pivot from bearish to bullish sentiment.

Bitcoin, whose price surge this week saw the asset rise more than 14% to top out at a yearly high above $35,000, first crossed over its 200-day moving average on Oct. 16. On the weekly view, BTC has also crossed that threshold over the same period.

The 200-day MA is a widely observed technical indicator used by traders and analysts to gauge the long-term trend of an asset. 

When the current price of an asset is above its 200-day MA, it’s generally considered to be in an upward trend,…

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The World Bank has initiated the first issuance of digital securities on Euroclear’s newly launched Digital Securities platform.

Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI), a platform based on distributed ledger technology, facilitates the establishment, issuance and settlement of international securities digitally, all under English law, according to a Tuesday press release.

The World Bank said it has raised 100 million euros ($105.9 million) from the three-year digital bond, dedicated to backing its sustainable development projects, with the bond making its debut on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

The bond’s release involved Citi overseeing the issuance and…

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Maestrobots, a group of cryptocurrency bots on the Telegram messenger, is refunding users in the aftermath of a 280 Ether (ETH) attack.

The Maestro team refunded the users affected by the Maestro Router 2 contract, the platform announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Oct. 25. According to the announcement, Maestrobots paid a total of 610 ETH in its own revenue to cover all the user losses, worth more than $1 million at the time of writing.

“Every wallet that lost tokens in the router exploit has now received the full amount they lost. Some of you ended up with even bigger bags,” Maestro wrote.

The Maestro team noted that some amounts were paid back in affected tokens and ETH. For nine out…

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After a period of market uncertainty, several large-cap cryptos are flashing signs of a comeback. 

The surge is being led by bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) along with other noteworthy digital assets on the back of heightened interest surrounding possible ETF approval next year.

“After the SEC declined to appeal its loss to Grayscale in the circuit court, an approval of a physically-backed BTC ETF in the US became increasingly more likely,” CoinShares head of research James Butterfill said in a statement to Blockworks.

Bitcoin has seen its price increase by 19% over the last seven days, trading at $34,100 as of Wednesday at 6:00 am ET. The asset has registered a 24-hour volume of $44…

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Binance appears to be the driving force behind a recently launched crypto exchange in Hong Kong.

South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday that the exchange HKVAEX was established in Hong Kong as an independent entity under BX Services Limited.

Despite not having similar names or a publicly acknowledged connection, they share resources, the report said, citing sources.

Notably, Binance and HKVAEX’s logos bear resemblance, and Binance’s official accounts, along with CEO Changpeng Zhao, are among HKVAEX’s few followers on social media platform X.

Stanley Fung, now at the helm of HKVAEX, served as the chief of Huobi’s Hong Kong operations until Nov. 2022, according to…

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